As is the case with most love affairs, there are times when eventing loses its attractiveness.
Rather than seeing the glory and joy in the sport, we find it hard to look past the ugly bits that affect even the most resilient relationships – the open mouth chewing, the undies on the floor, the bad moods and even the occasional little fart. It’s generally fleeting, but when we start to have second thoughts, suddenly eventing doesn’t seem like such a good idea after all.
Inspired by a weekend at Goulburn that started with snow, I’ve taken a look at the second thoughts that affect us all from time to time.
Entering an event
Every time you go to enter an event, there’s a little moment when you wonder if you need to go at all. In the back of your mind you know you should go – but given the cost involved, is it really going to be that worthwhile?
After all, for the price of an average entry you could jump out of an aeroplane (with a parachute), eat at a fancy restaurant (that doesn’t serve fries on the side), or pay a third of the average weekly Australian mortgage payment. If you’re entering an event at SIEC, that same money could get you a week in the south of France (flying business class)
Before the event
I imagine it’s the same when you’re about to get married – no matter how much preparation you’ve put into the big day, you hit a point where it seems more sensible to pawn the dress at Vinnies and call the whole thing off. Some diehards will never admit to it, but I’m certain that in the week before an event 80 per cent of riders experience a moment where they secretly hope God will send a flood to wash the entire cross-country course away.
Often this feeling coincides with your horse losing the ability to put its head down, or deciding to run a lottery over whether to jump the fences.
At its worst you get God onside and it rains all week – making preparing for the event almost impossible – but the organising committee refuse to play ball and cancel. Soaked through, with mud permeating your pores and constant updates on the snowfall filtering out of the event venue, you can only grit your teeth and convince yourself that the sun will shine on you by the time the weekend comes around.
At the event
As we were warming up for the Three Star cross-country at Goulburn, I had two other riders come up to me and ask why we do it. Because it’s fun, I told them, smiling jovially as I do every time I play poker. It was a fair question though, as whether you ride at Newcomers or Four Star, there’s a point at which our nerves build up and bully us into questioning our reason for doing what we do.
But I wasn’t actually lying. There really is only one answer to the question – despite the expense, the vagaries of the weather and the terror that comes from having to jump a massive fence downhill into water – eventing is fun.
And that’s something that paying your mortgage never will be.
See you somewhere out there.
Hamish
